Far is the Star Called Sol

by Omnicron25

15 - Defender of the Ethereal

Bitterness was the emotion of the day. Those stupid down-time ponies knew nothing of what they were bringing upon themselves, and the former alicorn and princess Astral Plane wanted nothing more to do with them. She just wanted back in her own time now; she wanted go back to where that time-damned book had taken her from. At this point, she would gladly deal with her cousin Shining Star over these ungrateful horses.

"Oh~ Such delicious bitterness~ However do you control it~?"

SHUT IT, NIGHT MARE!!! raged the filly in her mind as she exited the shadow walk. It was infinitely easier to use it now for some reason, but at the moment, Astra as giving it no thought. She was just sick of all these stupid rut-brained commoners thinking obviously under-thought methods of protection would help them. I am not in the mood for your banter.

That acidic laugh hit her again, but by now, the former princess was so used to she never even batted an eyelash at the pain. "Oh? When is thee ever? Last I checked, small moon, you were all for helping these ponies~ What? Decided to change now?"

"Little one, are you okay? We're heading to Town Hall to meet up with everypony else. Quickly! Come with us! We'll keep you safe!" spoke up a yellow unicorn mare in front of her.
Astra smirked sadistically, letting her unnatural canines show as she encountered a group of Changeling drones disguised as ponies. Her aura seeing abilities were very useful here, and she unleashed a massive wave of crystals from underneath her to destroy the entire group without getting a single hint of gore on herself. However, she spared the disguised mare, saying, "Cute trick, Changeling, but no, I much rather destroy you! However, you are of use to me."

The Changeling gasped in horror. "M—Monster! W—What are you!"

"Oh~! I am just loving theatrics, my little vessel~ Do go on!" egged on the dark spirit mirthfully.

Astra's smile grew wider. "I am your worst nightmare if you do not cooperate with me." She enclosed the Changeling in a crystalline prison with but a shift of a hoof. "However, I might keep you alive as my personal servant if you give me what I desire." She had really no intention originally of keeping such a creature alive, but the thought of having her own Changeling drone bound to her seemed enticing— the bugs did have their uses after all.

"Oh, has the little filly developed the taste for evening activities already?" teased Night Mare Moon's spirit with mirth.

Nothing so uncouth, answered back the midnight blue filly flatly. Her ability to gather information because of her ability to change form alone is invaluable, but she can also act as a bodyguard and false guardian as well once we leave this backwater town to burn.

Her mental conversation was interrupted by the Changeling screeching, "Why can't I turn back?! Why can't I contact the others?! What did you do to me?!" By the last question, the drone was on the ground sobbing.

"If I were your mother, I'd be oh so proud of your progress~ Just a few ponies disregarding your warnings, and you find how weak they truly are compared to you— even in your weakened form~ This is simply… delicious…"

I need not your approval, vile spirit, Astral Plane thought back, but there was no bite to her thought as she turned her mind fully back to the drone. She slid a hoof almost fondly over one of the crystal bars. "These bars separate your ethereal self from the rest of this plane, meaning you cannot draw any magic, shift your form at will, or even contact any other being outside physical means. You now have less connection to this realm than even the human or I. The crystal ponies originally designed this spell to combat Discord and trap him, but alas, the sun and moon got to him first. The Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony was far too powerful for this to have worked at any rate. Therefore, for a grunt you, this is merely overkill. It would prove more useful against Twilight Sparkle or the late Magnum. You or that odd unicorn Sentinel Heart would starve here in a matter of minutes since it also actively drains magic from its inhabitant to strengthen itself."

The drone's eyes widened as it paled in fear. It was time to strike her goal home.

"I am not of this plane of time-space, and I need information. Like for instance, how did your Queen get such a large army? I can't help but notice most don't even have the intelligence to speak Common while shifted now. Also, how is Chrysalis getting all that power? It is quite the collection of pure joy she has at her disposal. If you tell me, I shall let you live— provided you swear allegiance to me in a Life-link Oath."

"I must say, my little vessel. You are surprising even me with your… brutality in the matter. Your heart hasn't even broken, yet you can do this with ease…" The dark spirit paused. It almost had a fearful or worried tone to it. Then, it started to laugh again. "You are a troubled case indeed! If only your precious mother knew what darkness loomed within you!"

Pleased to surprise you, vile thing, the filly huffed inwardly before continuing, "So, what will be your choice?" She started to circle the cage using a hoof to purposely bump every bar, making a haunting ting go off with each hit. "Will you die slowly here, or shall you be mine?"

By this point, the drone was obviously broken, but there was a curious glint in its eye. "How are you even doing this?"

Astra laughed a haunting laugh for a moment before saying, "It is crystal pony magic— forbidden since the time of King Sombra's defeat. Only crystal ponies, some earth ponies, alicorns, and a handful of spirits of the ethereal can use it. Unfortunately for you, my current form still allows me to use it— an oversight I'm sure. Do not dally now; you haven't much time left before I cut my connection, and the prison begins to feed on you."

The Changeling ran to Astra pleading, "I'll do anything you say! Do anything you wish of me! Just let me go, and I'll do it!"

"It seems you have your first follower, my little vessel. Well done~" cheered Night Mare Moon in the back of her mind.

Astra paid her no mind, however, as she said, "Nah, ah, ah, first, you need to answer my questions. Now, if you please…"

The mare nodded, "Yes, of course! My queen has a large gathering of various ponies in pods below the Town Hall. I don't know how many; I've never been allowed down there. I am a third-generation Changeling, and I was a unicorn filly at birth. What used to be done was Changelings would take the fillies and colts they found or were birthed by the second generation Changelings and around the age of… ten I think and corrupt them with the Changeling Shift Incantation. I—I don't know exactly know how it works; it has been nearly a hundred and fifty years since I was changed, and I was one of last before the fourth generation. The fourth generation can only speak while in the form of a pony, and they are corrupted as an embryo inside a live pony since third generation are infertile, which kills the mother. I know even less about that since it lasted only about fifty years, but the horde's numbers soared. Most of the ones that were part of the Canterlot assault were third and fourth generation, since—" She had to force herself to halt and take a breath before continuing, "Since the fifth generation were still incubating and there is only two second generation still alive."

Astral Plane frowned and held up a hoof to motion for silence for silence as she asked, "So, the fifth generation are completely ethereal? They were crafted solely from magic and are not but constructs?"

The drone nodded. "Yes. I'm not sure how they are created, but they're not living… not really. However, one batch can create over a thousand Changelings at a time, and only require to be close to a lay line to incubate. The stronger the lay line, the faster they seem to hatch and develop."

Astral Plane frowned further. "Very well, you have proven yourself." She struck one of the bars with her hoof, shattering the entire construct and leaving the Changeling the choice to attempt to escape if it was so foolish as to try. She smirked letting one of her canines show when the Changeling stayed where it was. "Well, well, I expected you to try to flee or contact your horde. You've made a wise decision, drone."

The Changeling seemed puzzled. "I've sworn my fidelity to you, Master. I don't even feel the Queen's presence, have you not unlinked me from her?"
The midnight blue filly put a hoof on the yellow furred chest of the disguised Changeling saying, "I will now." She closed her eyes and let herself feel the ethereal. She felt the connection to the drone soon afterward and manipulated it to her will.

The Changeling screamed in agony as bright flash of aurora-like energy enveloped it. Then, the light was absorbed into the drone, leaving behind a Changeling of a nearly silver-like appearance that seemed to radiate the light of the aurora itself. However, the eyes were that of a pony with red irises, and a cutie mark of a simple grey circle appeared on her flanks. The drone looked at herself and gasped in shock. "W—What is this?!"

Astra smiled gently at her new follower. "You, my follower, are now the first of the Aurora Guard in nearly a millennium— since the time of the late King Sombra— a defender of the ethereal realm of which I am princess of. What was your original name? Do you remember?"

"I was known as Qu'Tia among the others. I was second generation born, and I never had a pony name," answered the new Aurora Guard dumbly as she kneeled to her new leader. "You're a princess?"

Astral Plane nodded— proud of her achievement, but not letting it show. "My full title is: Her Royal Majesty Princess Astral Plane, ruler and guardian of the realm of the ethereal, and from this day forth, you shall be Captain Qu'Tia Borealis, leader of the Aurora Guard. Now, rise; I have my first task ready for you."

Night Mare Moon howled in laughter inside of Astra's head. "So, all you wanted was a pony you could boss around!? You were just having a tantrum?! You truly are a delight~! A foal still at heart, no doubt~!"

The princess payed it no mind as she continued, "I want you to change back to your previous form of a Changeling and go back to your horde, reporting what transpired here— aside from our little chat and your new form. Chrysalis no doubt already knows about me, and I will not be in any further danger from you telling her. While you are there, I need you to gather what information you can safely. I cannot stress how invulnerable you are right now, but if you can find a way to safely free the ones in basement, do it. If you find yourself in over your head, go into the nearest shadow and think of me; you will immediately be ported to my shadow. If I was at full power, we would have a mental link, and I could summon you and whomever is touching you through the ethereal. Unfortunately, that's not possible right now, so be careful."

"Won't the queen notice I've been… changed though?"

Astra shook her head. "In your Changeling form, you should have all your original connections intact, though you can turn them off at will now. Also, you can now take the form you would of had as an adult unicorn as well. That form will be important for obvious reasons later on."

Captain Borealis nodded with a grin and saluted. "Understood, Princess. May I ask a question?"

Astral Plane nodded as she used some crystal spikes to kill some oncoming Changelings that turned the corner. "Go on."

"Why did you spare me, and what am I now?"

The former princess frowned. She did not know what the former drone was now. Traditionally, it was crystal ponies that made up the Aurora Guard— originally called the Valkyrior*— and was led by the leader of the Crystal Empire during the Harmonic Era. Anypony made into an Aurora Guard was turned into a crystal pony as they are partially ethereal themselves. The former drone looked more like living metal rather than any type of crystal though and had completely different abilities. "I think you are the first of your kind, Captain. As such, I think the archaic pegasus word hydrargyrum, meaning quicksilver, describes you accurately. Therefore, I shall call you a Hydrargyrite until I know for sure. As for the former, I saw you were the only so far with an aura of self-awareness among these bugs. The rest are merely puppets, or fifth and fourth generation as you call them. Also, call me merely Astral Plane, or Astra, for now. I need not the others knowing of my presence yet, and always come as your unicorn form around me around other ponies. We need them not knowing what you are or were yet."

"What shall I call myself as a unicorn then?" asked the captain.

Astra roller her eyes. "Be creative. You've must learn to think for yourself at some point. That is a good place to start. Now, off with you, Captain. Time is a-wasting."

Captain Qu'Tia Borealis once again took her drone form and flew off, leaving the former alicorn feeling much better with herself. Even sealed as she was, her alicorn powers were still developing well beyond what was normal for one her age, and it made her feel good.

"I'm disappointed. I was hoping you had finally decided to let these ponies rot in their own pit of despair they dug for themselves."
Astral Plan smirked as she started to trot off, killing a few earth bound drones with crystal spires as they appeared from an alley behind her. My new captain reminded me of how fear will force a pony to abandon all just for safety. She was at my mercy, and I am honestly glad she decided to join me. I do not like killing, but to these bugs, it's a mercy.
The dark spirit shifted, but said nothing. However, that was when Astra heard it… Rainbow Dash's scream.

"FLUTTERSHY!!! YOU HAVE TO SNAP OUT OF IT!!! FLUTTERSHY!!!"

Astral Plane looked up to see the butter yellow pegasus falling with two of her ill-gotten cohorts of the Cutie Mark Crusaders falling right toward a burning building. She felt a spike of panic hit her as she watched. Time slowed as she started running toward the building, only to realize she was not going to make it. "Empty sky! I will not let my foalsitter die here!" She could feel the burn of tears start to sting her eyes as she tried to run even faster. "Buck it all! I will not let her die! She's got to stay alive!"

"Use my power, and she won't have to, my little vessel."

This offer by the dark spirit snapped the filly out of her near hysteric state. She remembered that Fluttershy had to have survived the incident, because she was in the future to become her foalsitter. However, no pony knew how her or the two members of the CMC survived the incident. Other than they were found later near Town Hall, there was no real record of what happened at Town Hall besides the standoff between Jason Nalick's and the bug queen, and even that was fuzzy with few details. "Under a few conditions," spat back Astra aloud as she continued to gallop, knowing she had to be the one to save her foalsitter and the two annoying fillies. "I will not merge with you and will only borrow your power until we get back to our own time. The future cannot be changed, so there is no point doing so now anyway. We will make further arrangements when we get back to our own time. Merging now would only be a hindrance."

"Glad to hear you're finally coming around, my little vessel. I'll hold you to that, but for now, prepare yourself! You are about to encounter power you can only barely imagine!" Night Mare Moon cackled with mirth now that it finally had a hoofhold in the filly's willpower.

The world froze and the former princess was filled with agonizing pain as her body spasmed and changed. Then, she could comprehend the bitterness, anger, and hate of her previous actions and draw off that power like a flowing river. It was awe inspiring, but she had somepony to save. With a thought, she turned herself into darkness itself and traveled faster than she even thought was physically possible into the burning home. She felt the human was near as well, so she had to make her leave fast. Therefore, she decide to envelop the three— who were still clinging to each other tightly— and melded herself into the shadows as she spewed out of the top of the structure.

The power was now well within her control, and she felt all her other powers of an alicorn return to her as she made her way through the realm of shadows. She felt unrivaled anger— all of it directed toward Chrysalis. The bug had hindered her plans of getting home and had hurt so many ponies that she had swore to protect. That bug destroyed ponies' lives by permanently turning them into one of her. That bug had killed countless mares to grow her own numbers. That bug had hurt her family. That bug had hurt her foalsitter, and no pony hurt Fluttershy.

"You know keeping your feelings bottled up like that is a terrible thing, my little vessel~ While you have the power, why don't you show that treacherous lifeform some fear and despair of her own~"

For once, Princess Astral Plane agreed. Yes, let's rip that thing from limb to limb. I want to see that bug suffer for what she's done. It's time to end this! With that thought, she changed her direction in the shadow realm to that of Town Hall. I want her to pay!

Meanwhile, Queen Chrysalis was enjoying the ever-fattening trap set by her horde as she watched from the Mayor's Office of Town Hall. While it had been true a great number of the town's population had been diverted by the combined effort of the human Jason Tiberius Nalick and his cohorts, it was more than enough to feed her now enormous horde as they would continue their assault toward Hoofington to the north once finished here. Once the trap was ready, she would send in her reserve forces to wipe out that pesky hospital and farm entirely, with her leading the charge on the hospital herself. She was tired of these ponies fighting against the inevitable, and wanted to send a message.

"Any resistance will perish, being made the example, and only those who submit will be allowed to live," murmured the Changeling queen quietly to herself as she thought upon her failed attempt at Canterlot. It sickened her to to think a mere forcefield had done her in last time. She had bested the Celestial Goddess herself in one on one combat and dealt with the Lunar Guard and their goddess before the wedding even started with a false alarm in Manehatten. She would find a way to make that love princess and her goody-tushu husband pay. She smirked as she continued, "And what better way than to kill the Bearer of the Element of Magic for all of Equus to see."

That had been her original goal in Ponyville, and then make her initial assault the more remote Appleloosa just one hour later. Then, she saw just how vulnerable the trade town was, and reworked her plans. She had more than enough forces to play with, and her early capture of the Bearer of the Element of Mirth— she refused to call it 'laughter' as it was now commonly called in this millennium— made it all the more practical to do so. It would hit Equestria's morale hard to see their picture perfect town that was oh so close to Canterlot's defenses smashed, and their precious Element Bearers killed, mutilated, humiliated, or— as was to be the case of Twilight Sparkle— all three.

The door to the office opened, making the Changeling monarch smile. "Has our guests of honor arrived, As'Prin?"

"The Bearer of Loyalty has, but Kindness perished as she fell into a burning building of her own violation." The drone bowed; it was one of the few of the third generation left, but she had plans to replace them soon as her scouts and squad commanders with modified fifth generation in any case. They had too much free will still yet in them.

"Excellent! I had hoped to keep the shy one as a pet, but no matter," cackled the parasitic ruler. "Spring the trap! I will be there soon~!"

"As you wish, my queen," said the drone as it shut the door.

A few moments later, however, the door opened again— this time, with urgency.

"What seems to be the matter Qu'Tia? Why is your patrol dead?"

"It was that foal warrior that uses crystals, my queen!" urgently said the disguised captain as she bowed. "She slaughtered them all as well as several other patrols!"

Chrysalis frowned. She did not like this mere foal playing savior to the town and decided to give it the same treatment as Twilight Sparkle as well; she cared not about the age that this foal was, and if it indeed was from the future as Celestia's protété's letter suggested, then it would be possible to kill her down-time and insure she got sent to her demise up-time as well. Then, she smirked. Maybe I can manipulate the foal to become my most faithful student. Wouldn't that just get underneath Celey's fat hide? She turned to her messenger.

"I presume she sent you here to deliver a message then? She was one of the first to figure out this was a trap after all. I assume she's not just being careless."

The captain had to think fast. She had not expected her disguise to work quite this well, nor the closeness of Chrysalis's observation of her princess. Astral Plane had been right that the vile queen had been keeping tabs on her progress. "Yes, my queen. She says:" She cleared her voice to mimic Astra's. "I, the Defender of the Ethereal, have deemed it worthy to deal with thee myself. Prepare thy trapping and snares if thou so pleaseth, as I will crush thee and the Valkyrior will raise like ethereal wardens of old again. There will be nowhere to hide, for I will find thee, and nowhere to run, for I will execute thee." The captain was taking for granted the hivemind that the Changelings seem to possess when it came to the tides of history now, for memories of a millennium ago were still accessible even now so that they could face the most ancient of enemies without being caught flat-hoofed. It seemed this form had its benefits after all.

"My, my, it's as I thought," giggled Queen Chrysalis. "She is the Moon Goddess's daughter! Oh! Breaking her will be a treat indeed!"

Now, Qu'Tia's shielded inner thoughts were now concerned she had said too much, but with the queen already taking such an interest in her princess, it was just a matter of time until she would have known at any rate. It was easier to deceive her former master than she thought, but then again, Chrysalis always had been callous and overly confident in her abilities. One slip-up though, and Chrysalis would certainly catch on. She was surprised that her princess was Princess Luna's daughter though, and in a strange way, it made sense— not that it mattered to her though.

"Gather up squads three and five, and prepare them for the attack on the hospital," said Chrysalis as she turned to watch a cyan pegasus fly into the crowd of ponies outside. "The final piece is in place, and we must be ready to strike at a moments notice once we're done here."

Captain Borealis stood. "Yes, my queen." Then, she turned and started her way toward the impromptu barracks that had been carved into the bedrock beside the basement of the building. She knew that the queen would soon be too occupied to keep track of her or the rest of the horde, as she was certain her princess, and most likely the human as well, would be coming after her. Once distracted, she would sever her connections and use her newfound ability to cloak— which she found out by accident and almost did not manage to turn off in time earlier— to get inside the pod chamber. If there was any hope of success, she would have to separate Chrysalis's connection to the Element of Laughter, and then, once she was certain her mission was complete, she would report back to Princess Astral Plane. She could only hope her new leader was not as callous as the first and got herself caught.

As Rainbow Dash landed just outside of the Ponyville Town Hall, she noticed immediately something was off. Instead of being in the basement bunker, the ponies were gathered in the courtyard right outside the front doors of the government structure. As part of the town government, she knew this was not procedure, and she hesitated letting go of her passengers immediately.

Pearl picked up immediately on this asking, "What's wrong, dearie?"

Rainbow looked around cautiously. Maybe spending so much time around Sentinel was starting to affect her judgment and his natural paranoia was rubbing off on her, but she could not help noticing that the ponies seemed too subdued. It seemed unnatural as if…

"Horsefeathers, I think the twerp was right." Her face contorted into one of disgust with herself. "We walked right into a bucking trap, guys."

As if on cue, a dark cloud burst out of the top of the Town Hall, ripping the roof clear off as if it was but mere tissue paper. Then, a sudden burst of green flame flared around the entirety of the square as Changelings slammed into the ground on all sides, forming a living barricade several ranks deep. Then, another intense burst of heat hit Dash as another flame erupted right next to her. She instinctively let go of Pearl and Scootaloo as she flew above them to shield them with her body. "Find a way out! Go!"

"Oh! That's quite amusing Element of Loyalty, but I'm afraid there is no way out. I am not allowing you ponies to best me again, and I will get both my revenge and a mobile food supply this time. There will be no running this time."

Rainbow looked up toward the familiar yet ominous voice right above her. Her eyes widened as she saw Queen Chrysalis herself hovering right above her. It was at this point that the other ponies seemed to out of their stupor as well— as if a spell was broken. They all started to panic at the sight of the Changeling horde surrounding them and the parasite queen right above the center of their group. All at once, they started trying to fight against the horde on the borders in a disorderly panic of sheer desperation, only to get pushed back the sheer number of them. Pegasi tried to fly out, only to get hit by five drones and knocked back to the ground. Unicorns tried to use their telekinesis on pavement bricks or just sheer magic blasts to blast through, but for every one, there seemed to be five more to take its place.

"Do you understand now, Rainbow Dash of Cloudsdale? You're beaten. You're useless. For all your vain efforts, you changed nothing and caused the death of one of your dear friends. You could have listened to the filly known as Astral Plane and got an assault force from the hospital, but you didn't. If you submit to me, I'll let you live, and I'll let you grieve for the rest of your days think of what could have been."

Rainbow Dash spat in the parasite queen's face before screaming, "Not if I take you down first!" She put as much acceleration as she could into the fifteen length separation between and the insectoid queen. A powerful force stopped her mid-way though. It gripped her like an invisible paw of a manticore, squeezing the life out of her. Her eyes widened as she recognized she was trapped in a telekinetic field coming from none other the Changeling queen herself. She felt the grip tighten slightly, and she barely managed to not scream from the pain and grit her teeth instead as she glared at the parasite with hate in her eyes.

"I'll never… submit… to… you!" Dash growled through the pain.

Then, she noticed an orange filly being held up in front of her by the same sickly green glow with her face contorted with the same pain.

"Then will you submit to this filly then?" asked Chrysalis with a mirthless grin before pulling the filly close to her and licking Scootaloo's cheek. "Somepony who idolizes you? Somepony who think you are a hero?"

Scootaloo looked at Dash with tears in her purple eyes. "Dash… Don't do it! I—" She suddenly screamed in pain as a snapping of ribs rang out.

"SCOOTS!!!" yelled the Element of Loyalty despite the pain. She turned her eyes back to Chrysalis in defiance. "Let her go!"

"I hope you rea—" started Chrysalis before she was hit by a series of telekinetically held pearls in quick succession.

"Rainbow! Run! Get help!" yelled a pony from below before a sickly sound was heard from the same general direction.

Rainbow Dash did not run though. She wanted revenge, and she wanted her number one fan safe. She used the temporary lapse in the queen's concentration to jet away before coming back around, building more and more speed and momentum as she flew. Then, she pulled it off. She broke the barrier to the sonic rainboom just seconds before impact, smashing both her and the Changeling queen into the ground.

Slowly, Rainbow Dash pulled herself to her hooves. She was used to aerial accidents, so shrugging off a crash that she let the target take the full impact was easy enough. "Heh, had enough yet?" she asked with wing spread wide in triumph to the cloud of dust kicked up from the crater in front of her.

A menacing chuckle made Rainbow Dash's blood run cold though as she felt of telekinesis grip her again. Only this time it was not around her barrel— it was around her wings. "I found your little display amusing, so now, I'll treat the ponies to a more successful show of power."

The dust was instantly whipped away with a single flap of Chrysalis's wings. "Ponies of Equestria!" started Queen Chrysalis as she slowly started to lift Rainbow Dash into the air by gripping nothing but her wings with her telekinesis.

"Hey! Let… me… go!" growled the cyan pegasus furiously as she struggled. "Fight me like a mare!"

Chrysalis ignored her captive as she continued, "Today, I will show you what your famous Rainbow Dash, the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty, truly represents! She is a boastful, egotistical coward! She hides her emotions with a falsetto of pride as her shield, and she is no better than the rest of you! Her loyalty is merely another front, and now, I will show you how much of a pony she truly is! I will make your loyalty cry for mercy and in doing so betray all of Equestria!"

"Never!" spat back Dash defiantly.

Chrysalis grinned sadistically. "We shall see!" She increased the pressure on the joints of the pegasus's wings.

Dash grit her teeth, but kept herself silent. She was not going to allow this creature win over the one and only Rainbow Dash.

Then, the insectoid's grin widened as she increased the pressure even further, making the Element Bearer tense in pain until she tears started streaming down her face. It was obvious she was about to break.

"Rainbow Dash! You can do it!" called one filly in obvious pain. "You're the coolest!"

"Don't give in, girl! We believe in you!" called out a mare from the crowd with a cream coat and candies as her cutie mark.

"Bon-Bon's right! Don't let that monster beat you!" yelled a lanky stallion covered in four with a baker's apron on.

"Rainbow Dash!" cried another starting a cheer. "Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!"

Chrysalis could only smile. They were doing exactly what she wanted. With one last tightening, she felt the bones give in the Element Bearer's wings, making the cyan pegasus cry out ferally in pain before going limp. "Now, see what you have done?! You broke your own loyalty to the mare that needed you the most! You could have attacked me! You could have tried to break my concentration, but you didn't! You let her do all the work, and she stayed loyal to you until she broke! You broke her— your own Element Bearer! You have let her down, and now, I shall give you your just punishment as my hive's food!"

She let the unconscious body of the once proud Rainbow Dash fall to the ground. Her wings were pointing at awkward angles, broken at the joints. Scootaloo ran as fast she could to her hero's side with tears in her eyes. "Dash! Dash you have to get up! I'm sorry! Please! We need you!"

Chrysalis absolutely beamed at the scene before turning to the rest of the crowd. "Does anypony else have anything to add? Do you give up?"

Another dark cloud of not Changelings, but pure darkness oozed out of the shadows in the main thoroughfare in front of Town Hall just outside the horde's barrier. "Enough of this farce! I have come for you Chrysalis, and you will pay for your crimes!" came an ethereal feminine voice, causing all to fall silent. The day seemed to darken into night and the lights of the aurora came creeping from all directions. Changelings screamed in agony as the darkness vaporized them while it started to roughly take shape of a pony foal. Then, the aurora wrapped itself around the darkness giving the creature somewhat defined lines. The aurora collapsed into silver-like pieces of barding— complete with horn cover and wing blades. Then, a mane and tail made of pure white fire erupted from the creature as the inky smoke formed wings to fill the blades. "I, the Defender of the Ethereal, have come to hunt you down!"

The ponies moved out of the creature of light and darkness's way as it slowly strode toward the queen. Their reactions varied greatly from expressions of fear to apprehension to confusion, but all regarded the alicorn-like figure in silent awe.
Chrysalis seemed to freeze staring at the armored creature of black smoke in what could only be described as fear. She fired a beam of energy toward it yelling defiantly, "Drones, ATTACK!!!"

Astral Plane smirked as she opened her eyes to reveal white orbs of pure energy and deflecting the beam of energy into the sky thinking, Fools…

"Indeed." agreed Night Mare Moon as let her power be used by the filly warrior to wipe out an entire swath of incoming drones with but a slight shift of the shadows that now made the filly's body.

Changelings did not have time to scream this time as they simply dissolved in the smoke, and Chrysalis was looking more and more desperate with each passing moment as the wrathful presence of pure ethereal energy closed in on her. "Y—You're the monster here! You don't even belong here!"

Astra tilted her head as she continued her march. "I'm the monster? You have killed countless mares to grow your numbers by turning their unborn foals into monsters inside of them. You have turned fillies and colts into one of you against their will. You have become a threat, and hindered my plans of returning home. I am killing things without mind nor will where you have ordered the death of hundreds of sapient beings, yet I am the monster? No, I am no monster. I am a collector, and your soul is what I intend to collect for your crimes."

That was when a blur of white and yellow passed the ethereal Astral Plane and went to Scootaloo's side, much to her annoyance.

"Scoots, come on! Let's get Rainbow outta here!" yelled Applebloom as she started to pull on Dash's tail to move her toward the opening Astra had made.

"Applebloom! Sweetie Belle! You're alive!" the orange filly gasped with glee only to wince in pain. "Sorry, it hurts to breathe," she croaked barely standing, but with a determined expression. "But I'll try for Dash!"

The three of them were suddenly grasped by Chrysalis and organized into a living shield in front of the queen. "Hah! Let's see how much you really are, Defender. Would you kill three fillies just to get to me? Just to further your own goals?"

Night Mare Moon laughed inside Astra's mind. "Does she really expect that to work?"

Obviously, thought back Astra as she cast a spell without even needing her horn, navigating it through the ground until it surrounded the queen. Then, it erupted into a cage of black crystal that surrounded the queen and cut her magic off from the rest of the physical plane. The CMC unceremoniously fell to the ground with eyes wide with shock.

"Get your Element Bearer out of my way, fools," ordered Astra and three fillies immediately did as they were told with apologetic looks on their muzzles.

"What have you done to me?!" screeched the queen with fear completely filling her voice.

"Being your judge and executioner as my bloodline allows," said Astra coldly as she began to charge a spell; her aura appearing the same aurora itself.

"No! No! I will not let it end here! I've come too far to fail now!" cried out Chrysalis desperately as she attempted to back away, only to have her rump hit the bars behind her. Her horn sparked pink, making her flinch painfully.

"Since I'm merciful, I'll make this quick," said Astra as she finished charging the spell.

"NO!!!" cried out Chrysalis as an explosion of pink energy erupted from her horn, shattering the cage and sending a blinding shockwave in all directions.

* Valkyrior is pronounced val-kyr-yer.